Our country is no longer controlled by, and for, We the People, but instead by, and on behalf of, international banking and multinational corporate interests. While the gradual, almost imperceptible takeover of our government by this corporate fascism has been evolving by design for many decades, it is a coup d'etat nonetheless and has been disastrous for the vast majority of Americans. This blog is an exploration and discussion of how this occurred, and the damage it has done to our democratic processes.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

A big thank you to Bly for lending me her DVD of Orwell Rolls in His Grave. Of course I can't lend her video to all of you, so I found the full version at Google Films that you can view right here. It asks the compelling question: "Could a media system, controlled by a few global corporations with the ability to overwhelm all competing voices, be able to turn lies into truth?" In a country where the top one-percent control ninety-percent of the wealth, the film argues that the media system is nothing but a subsidiary of corporate America. This documentary is compulsive viewing for those who want to know exactly why things are the way they are, never improve -- only disintegrate more, and why our "elected" officials never seem to care about us, but only the elite and the money they represent. From Ron Kaufman's review from turnoffyourtv.com, " ...with quotes and phrases from George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, this film takes issues that many people may already suspect to be true and presents it with sound and video. The movie is a good presentation of how American society has turned into an oligarchy of frightening proportions. In some sense, Orwell Rolls In His Grave is a pretty depressing film. To think that the wealthiest one-tenth of one percent of the country is in control of the largest corporations, the executive and judicial branches of government and the mass media is something that challenges our notions of freedom and democracy."

As we sink deeper and deeper into the abyss of corporate fascism by continuing to elect and re-elect (and in cases, "un-elect") corporatist politicians who always play to our emotions and never speak the truth, and while the top one-percent -- the elite and their interests -- has two political parties representing them while the remaining ninety-nine percent -- everyone else -- has nobody, keep this is mind: The democracy you think we have, that you were taught about since you were a child in school, is a sham and a mirage and a deceitful lie. But it doesn't have to be this way. You have the power to influence, certainly on a very small scale, but you have the power nonetheless. Commit yourself to learning more, understanding more, and influencing those you know and love. Above all, be skeptical and questioning of everything you hear and see from the major media outlets. Remember, they don't care about educating you to operate in a democracy; they only care about increasing their wealth and that of those they represent, and that means keeping you uninformed -- and misinformed -- about what's really going on.

I know it's boring as hell, but it's right here! The audacity!

And the fourth branch owns the other three...

If only he were there, that summer of 1787...

"By a declaration of rights, I mean one which shall stipulate freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of commerce against monopolies, trial by juries in all cases, no suspensions of the habeas corpus, no standing armies. These are fetters against doing evil which no honest government should decline." ..........Thomas Jefferson to Alexander Donald, February 7, 1788, Papers, 12:571

"Few would argue that corporations today are not only ubiquitous but have enormous power over our lives. Was it always like this? How did it get to be this way? And what are the implications of this situation for democracy? … Indeed, so much power and wealth has been amassed by corporations that they can be said to govern, presenting a mortal threat to our body politic. To use a medical analogy, when a surgeon cuts out a cancer, it's not to punish the cancer, it's to save the body. If we wish to prevent the total demise of democracy - rule by the people - then we must return corporations to their subservient role."